In October 2002 I wrote a paper for my final Honours submission for Art History at Curtin University which was focussed on relational aesthetics, whereby the audience is considered to be as much a part of the completion of an artwork as the art form itself.

The ideas and concepts of Niccolas Bourriaud still ring very true for me as we consider how important an audience has become in a digital age, where we can access huge bodies of data across time and space with relative ease.

'Body In Another Light' is a collaborative, participatory exhibition of high quality silver gelation photographs; the curves, humps, bumps and corners of humans, capturing either full forms or abstract contours of the body. There has been huge shifts in technology over the last decade where the camera has become ubiquitous, built into cell phones, internet enabled and capable of taking photographs in high resolution. The model is now also the photographer either shooting back on their own form, using reflections or automated timers to create timeless art works.

In January 2015, over a decade later, some would say very courageously, I took this concept one step further by turning the camera on myself.

I have always had a passion for inclusive, participatory, collaborative and distributed artworks so 'Body In Another Light' is an extension on concepts that I have employed in my art practice since 1992.

This is an open invitation for you to participate in a collaborative exhibition of photographic (Silver Gelatin) works to be showcased in Melbourne, Australia in 2016.

Note - All sales of these photographic works will be returned directly to those who contribute works for this exhibition at $450 AUD per photograph (25cm x 25cm unframed Silver Gelatin)

Rule of Engagement

The following rules of engagement provide you with an understanding as to how you can participate in this exhibition as the model, as the subject of the artworks:

Format - All photographs will be nude photography of the human form (18+) looking at the curves, humps, bumps and corners of the human form in either full form or abstract contours of the body according to the subject;

Public - All selected photography will be exhibited publicly via the Gallery web page prior to, during and after the completion of the photographic exhibition;

Identification - It is within the subjects rights, with no restrictions, as to whether they choose to submit for consideration of inclusion photographs that identify themselves or not;

Reproduction - The subject provides unrestricted access for Alexander Hayes to use for promotional purposes those images selected for digital reproduction and also photographic emulsion under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike 3.0 International licence;

Copyright - All artworks selected for re-rendering, photographic emulsion creation and final photographic representation are copyright protected under the afore mentioned licence.

Guidelines For Creation

Using the premise that the human form is a landscape, create works of art that creatively engage with the curves, humps, bumps and corners of the human form by:

Get Naked - Strip off, find a comfortable and uncluttered environment and use the natural light of the morning or the afternoon to create photographs using your cellphone camera or perhaps it's just candid shots of legs on a train, feet, hands, shoulders, chest....let your imagination run wild;

In February 2015 I was contacted by Sarina del Fuego from RAW to showcase on the 13th March at the Belconnen Arts Centre, Canberra, ACT.

This is the first collaborative exhibition I have exhibited in since 2003.

It would be wonderful if you could support me by purchasing a ticket - $16.50 AUD

That ticket sale ensures we have the venue covered and allows the artists (me) to sell work without a commission. It is a model of getting events happening that make Artist's responsible for their own marketing and bringing their network into awareness of their work. I fully support this model and ask you to support me by purchasing a ticket and seeing my work and the work of other emergent and experienced artists in Caanberra.

My Mission

My mission is to sell at least one artwork and reimburse everyone's ticket in full.

In 1993 I was commissioned by the Edith Cowan University Student Guild to produce graphic design proofs from which invitations and the event programme would be printed.

As a result I was further commissioned to create the sets for the event which included large constructions made from plywood and painted elaborately through which ball attendees were photographed in front of at the event.

In early 2003 I put some time into thinking about various configurations for installations that I was keen to build in conjunction with artist Rob Muir, Western Australia. In 2003 the visual diary was destroyed but I managed to scan some copies of pages which I've now uploaded to Figshare and the Internet Archive.

In early 1999 I was commissioned by the then CEO of the Fremantle Television Institute, Simon Ambrose in Fremantle, Western Australia to present a concept to the Board for approval for the design of the 13th Annual Screen awards. My design was accepted and I produced these with the help of contracted services to build these from chromed steel, slumped glass inserts with lead lighting.

In 1997-1998 as a fledgling first year Art student at Curtin University, Perth Western Australia I attended a series of summer tutorial groups led by the renowned artist, Stellarc.

At the time, also remember vividly assisting with a setup of a Victoria Vesna installation/exhibition at the John Curtin Gallery (from memory it had only just opened) and over the next three months also setup a number of rich media installations with sound artist Robert Muir, and TURA Events (Toss Mahoney) another Ric Rue gig at the Blue Room in Northbridge.

This gallery of images comes from my research proposal with Stellarc, an installation performance work I conducted with artist Andrew Nichols and some posters and support material I captured at the time in our tute groups, during great discussions with Julian Goddard, Doug Shearer and Prof. Ted Snell.